| Sri Lankan troops shot dead at least six women fighters of the Tamil Tigers during a clash in the north of the island, the defence ministry said Monday. Following an attack on a bunker line of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) along the de facto front line with guerrilla-held territory, the troops found six bodies of women fighters on Sunday, the ministry said. It said security forces also recovered a light machine gun, three automatic assault rifles and ammunition. The report came amid sporadic clashes in the north of the island and a warning from neighbouring India that Sri Lanka and the Tiger rebels must return to the negotiating table to end their conflict. India’s Finance Minister P Chidambaram said Sunday that while New Delhi backed Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, military action would not bring an end to the rebel drive for a separate state for minority Tamils. “Neither side can finally prevail over the other through conflict. Peace must be forged at the negotiating table,” he said. Tens of thousands of people have died since the conflict began in 1972. Fighting has escalated since December 2005, when a Norwegian-brokered truce began to unravel. |